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¹ "Call now; is there any one who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?² Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.³ I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.⁴ His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.⁵ His harvest the hungry eat, and he takes it even out of thorns; and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground;⁷ but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.⁸ "As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause;⁹ who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:¹⁰ he gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the fields;¹¹ he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.¹³ He takes the wise in their own craftiness; and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night.¹⁵ But he saves the fatherless from their mouth, the needy from the hand of the mighty.¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ "Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.¹⁸ For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands heal.¹⁹ He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven there shall no evil touch you.²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.²¹ You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.²⁴ You shall know that your tent is safe, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.²⁵ You shall know also that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.²⁷ Lo, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good."